Until we meet Again
by TiredGreenEyes
Summary: Instead of the book sucking in Miaka, she had Taka are astounded at who it spits out. Why did the book send them Chichiri? How do they send him back? Does he want to go back?
1. Suddenly Taken to

Disclaimer: FY equals Yu Watase

Yes, I'm writing another Chichiri story. It seems to be a compulsion of some sort...

This is after all the OVAs… so Chichiri is around 29 years old…

Until we meet Again

* * *

The path between the two mountains had been carved out by merchants, who had needed a way to travel between villages more quickly. Normally the space between the carved out rock was cool in temperature, protecting by earth on both sides and therefore shaded. Only a fool would have traveled through it at noon, when the sun was directly up in the sky.

Chichiri felt like a fool.

Slowly and painfully he was hiking up the incline, the sun beating down on him causing beads of sweat to roll down his chest beneath his shirt. It was so hot… so unbearably hot that his skin felt like it was literally burning and separating from his flesh. Underneath his kasa, his hair was plastered to his face, his breathing a bit too hard.

_'Well at least this way I won't be attacked by bandits…'_ The thought made him smile. He half wondered what Tasuki was up to… he hadn't seen him for… what was it, two years now? They'd parted ways directly after Miaka and Taka went back to their world. Hotohori and all the other senshis, back in their childish forms, had been taken back to their own villages.

He could still remember them standing by one another as the little girl, Nuriko, ran off into the distance into the arms of her family. Tasuki had awkwardly looked at him.

_'Guess this is goodbye…' he'd said gruffly._

_Chichiri had smiled at him. 'Yes. Take care of yourself. I hope your gang has success.'_

_'What'll you be do'n?' _

_Chichiri half shrugged. 'Wandering again I suppose…'_

His 'suppose' had been correct. Chichiri took to wondering between villages, most of who thankfully didn't recognize him as a warrior of Suzaku. Those who did normally gave him more attention than he felt comfortable with. He never stayed anywhere long.

It was days like today that made him feel tired… and old. '_Where am I going? Why am I going there?'_ He couldn't say. The only thing he knew how to do was to try to be of some use to the villagers while he was with them… but it never seemed like much.

_'Miaka and Tamahome aren't coming back this time,_' he thought quietly as he paused in his trek, his heart beating wildly in his chest from all the exercise. '_I'll never be reunited with anyone again…_' A deep sadness swept over his heart. He realized that somewhere deep inside him he selfishly hoped for something to happen so that he would once again have a purpose again. He wanted to be _needed_ again. After all, he wasn't _that_ old. Not thirty yet… what was he going to do for the rest of his life?

Suddenly the cry of a song bird pierced the air, causing him to whirl around and stare. The sight of the huge bird, perched on the rock beside him, easily as big as he was shocked him. The beautiful red feathers made his heart feel like it had stopped beating.

"Suzaku…?" he gasped.

The bird looked down, arching it neck in a way that suggested intellect. Chichiri slowly lowered himself to his knees, wondering if perhaps the sun had finally broiled his brains. Still he bowed his head respectfully and waited.

After two minutes in this position, his neck had a horrible creak and his knees felt like they would give out. He carefully raised his head.

The bird was gone.

Chichiri stood up slowly, his eyes still fixed to the spot. '_Was it just a hallucination then?' _he wondered.

He turned and another cry pierced, not the air but his heart. The bird's song called again, but this time it called for him. The song was incredibly sweet and sad and without even realizing it, tears began to slide down his face, making his mask begin to peel like wet paper. A terrific red light engulfed him, throwing him up in the air. It was unlike any of his own magic he was familiar with, something entirely foreign and somewhat frightening. Within seconds he had faded from view, disappearing entirely.

* * *

The security guard was walking by the restricted section when he heard a 'thunk' come from inside. He opened it and shined his flashlight over the shelves. When he saw nothing he left again, his footsteps padding softly on the carpet as he walked to the next floor.

He never saw the small red book that had fallen off it's shelf.

Of course, 'fallen' is a relative term. 'Jumped' is more appropriate.

* * *

Review if you like (and if you didn't like)

Next Chapter: Chichiri in Tokyo! He gets very confused.


	2. Tokyo of all places! What the

Heeeeey… not too many reviewers out there… but some people put it on their favorites/update lists so I thought I'd give it a check. Besides I rather like the possibilities with this story… this is a longer chapter.

Good bad or otherwise, review. Please.

Anyway, enjoy.

Oh! One more thing… could anyone tell me whether they think Chichiri thinks 'no da'? When I did his thoughts in chapter one he didn't but I'm throwing some in just in case. Arigato!

* * *

Chapter Two: Chichiri through the looking glass…

* * *

Heavy… his body felt so heavy.

Chichiri moaned softly, letting his head fall slightly to the left. He felt as though his limbs were full of sand- two times heavier than normal. Sand… that was certainly the gritty feeling he felt behind his eye…

_'It doesn't smell like a beach, noda…_'

Actually wherever he was lying, facedown, smelled horrible and as his senses returned he could feel a dampness radiating from the ground and soaking his clothing and skin. He shivered. Being the only senshi with magic meant that he'd had a lot of teleporting in his time. He was fairly well known for rough landings.

But not like _this_…

Slowly, blearily, he opened his eye and pushing himself up on his elbows. With a dazed expression he examined the scene before him.

He was in… an alley of some sort. Yes, that was what it had to be… but he had never encountered one like this before. It was wet and the buildings were made of strange materials. Even more curious, there were great giant tins everywhere and ladders folded up all over the walls to doors that were much too high off the ground. Flies buzzed around nosily, gladly giving up their garbage binge for the opportunity to bother and pest. He flinched and reached up a hand to brush them away.

Carefully- _very_ carefully- he stood, trying to access the damage. Despite the impact which must have happened when he appeared here, he wasn't really hurt at all. The only thing that really bothered him was his mind.

_'Where am I? I thought I saw Suzaku and then-'_

Suddenly a movement at the end of the alley caught his eye. He blinked a moment, not sure if he had just imagined it. Then it happened again, a quick flash of red.

'_Suzaku!?_' he thought, his heart thumping wildly. He reached to the ground and grabbed his staff out of a puddle. Then he ran towards the red flash…

Right into a woman.

"DAA-" He cried in surprise.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" she barked angrily. Chichiri stared, unable to apologize in his shock. The woman was wearing the most outrageous outfit he had ever seen. It seemed to be some long sleeved purple coat and a purple knee length skirt to match. It was almost as outrageous as the little brown uniform that Miaka used to wear…

The lady was staring at him, taking in the soaked clothing, the dripping bright blue hair and the mask which (unbeknownst to him was starting to peel off in the worst way). She let out a loud puff of exasperation and walked away.

"Freak…" she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Chichiri was too taken aback to even notice. The other people on the street milling around him were all wearing strange clothing too. Half of them were going by, staring at him and the other half were pretending not to. Still, he didn't notice that.

_'These people… they're not dressed like anyone from our world… Daaaa don't focus on that, focus on Suzaku! That's it… find Suzaku, he's got to be around here…'_ Frantically, Chichiri looked all around, taking up a large portion of the sidewalk. People angrily bumped into him, almost making him fall down again. He ignored them.

Yes! Yes, there it was… a thing in the distance, coming closer… but wait- it wasn't red-it _wasn't_ Suzaku it was-

…Some large metal rolly thing…

He stopped struggling.

Totally amazed, he watched a yellow shape zoom past, followed by a dozen other fast moving things just like it; all different colors and shapes.

It was the same feeling as before, only thing time he hadn't had to cross dimensions to feel the brunt of it. There was absolutely no deigning it.

_'That last battle… Nakago threw those metal carriages at us with his ki!'_

This was Miaka's world.

* * *

"Okaaaaaaay… okay. Be careful okay? You really do drive too fast!" Yui pushed a strand of long blonde hair behind one ear. "Sure, that sounds great. I love you." She hung up the phone carefully, and bit her lip. Still a smile broke out and she had to control herself to keep from dancing.

_Tetsuya! Tetsuya! Tetsuya_! She had to admit, they hadn't met in the kindest of circumstances. She'd just floated down after being devoured by Seriyuu and he'd been the one to catch her. She remembered how embarrassed she felt later when she'd realized that she'd plopped, naked, onto this total stranger's lap. She'd woken up, dazed, her arms loosely hanging over her shoulders as he carried her on his back towards the Yuuki residence.

Strangely enough… he liked her. _Her_ of all people… the one who'd ruined everything. The one who had been selfish… the one who'd caused all the trouble, the heartache… the unnecessary suffering. He liked her. And for the life of her she couldn't figure out why.

Oh, he was very quiet about it. He never outwardly admitted he did. He wasn't brash or openly obvious about it like Miaka and Taka were. He loved her in quiet ways.

After she had gotten out of the book she wasn't confused anymore. She finally got all her facts straightened out and found out that the months of gospel truth spewing from Nakago's lips turned out to be nothing but lies. She understood… but everything still hurt. It hurt that she had not been like Miaka, had been too selfish to help her on senshis. Everything hurt.

Maybe that's why, for so long, he was just quiet around her. He didn't try to talk to her… or to woe her or anything. He was just _there_. A companion in silence. The person to dried the dishes when she washed. The one who told her that he'd walk her home from school when she had to stay late for an event… A silent protector.

Maybe he understood… it had been Yui/Tamahome, Yui/Suboshi, Yui/Nakago… maybe he understood that she just needed to be _Yui_ for a while.

For a while… but not forever. Yui didn't really want to be alone. She just wanted someone who took her for what she was. Tetsuya, who didn't love her under the influence of a mind altering drug, who didn't just want to manipulate her... who had read about all the bad things she had done and still chose to leave her flowers on her desk right before exams. Who bought her the really expensive soft tissues when she had a cold. Gradually he worked his way into her life, breaking every barrier.

He had asked her to marry him.

Yui twirled the engagement ring around her finger, excitement making the butterflies do funny things in her stomach. She walked back into the café, sitting down again at the table with her best friend. "Sorry about that Miaka… Tetsuya's tux rental got all switched around…" she looked at the table with a laugh. "Wow, there's actually food here! Did you order more, I know there's no way you could restrain yourself-" she broke off.

Miaka was staring out the window, her wide green eyes frightened. One of her hands was pressed to her heart and she looked at though she was at a complete loss.

"Miaka… what's wrong?" Yui demanded, both softly and nervously.

Miaka looked up, her eyes serious. "I felt it in my heart," she said.

"It's Chichiri."

* * *

_'Daaaa, what should I do… what should I do…Tamahome and Miaka's world…'_

Chichiri slammed his staff onto the ground in front of him. He concentrated his lifeforce carefully, and as usual the presence of thousands of souls around him… actually it was about three times the usual.

'_So many people… how am I going to find Miaka's ki here? I don't even know if it's possible…no da.'_ He threw in the last 'no da' weakly. Heaven knew what he was doing here, because he surely didn't.

He looked up, trying to think of where he could go. Maybe in someplace with less people he would be able to concentrate better. Still, everywhere he looked were buildings and pictures and lights and walkways and people. The more he looked the smaller he seemed to become.

_'Maybe I should just… go back in the alley…'_ he thought hesitantly.

"Uncle Keiske! Uncle Keiske, matte!"

Chichiri froze. _'Keiske? Wasn't that the name of-'_

He turned slowly and looked across the street. A young man, maybe five years old was running up the street, stopping in front of someone with light brown hair.

"Whoa, take it easy Hikari, I'm not going anywhere." The man laughed and ruffled the young boy's hair. "I just got away from Tetsuya. Poor guy had to get even more fittings for his suit."

"Is he gonna get married with his sunglasses on?" The boy asked innocently, his eyes laughing.

Keiske chuckled. "Hey, maybe, you never know. We better go, I promised your mom you'd be home by six and I got a date myself I need to get to."

"Okaaaay…"

It was him! Chichiri recognized his voice completely. A feeling of overwhelming relief swept over him.

_'I found you!'_ he thought. Without thinking he stepped into the street.

Immediately a horn blared long and loud, and he jumped, but not nearly quick enough. The car tried to swerve and miss him but couldn't. It hit his body, sending him flying through the air. It was the same feeling he had when he had thrown himself into the flooded river; his body being turned every which way and feeling helpless…

He landed hard, another rough impact on this world's abnormally hard ground.

_'Stars… you really do see stars no da…'_ he thought blearily. Then he passed out.


	3. Hospital visits

Hello people…

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

"Miaka! Miiiiaaaaakkkkka!"

Taka's voice could be heard distantly at the bottom of the stairs and then louder and louder as he ran up the steps. He burst through the door.

"Miaka!" he gasped. "Miaka, I was at the mini market and I felt-"

He looked in surprise at the group in his living room. Tetsuya, Yui, Keiske, Hikari and Miaka were all sitting in the couches, apparently waiting for him.

"Taka… oh taka!" Miaka gasped. She threw her arms around him. "I know. I felt it too."

Their moment together was interrupted by her brother. Keiske stood up from his seat on the couch and demanded, "Is anyone going to explain what's going on?! Good grief, it's been one thing after another all day. First Mayo had to move our date til tonight, then an accident happens three feet away from where Hikari and I are standing and then we get home and Miaka and Yui tell me that something's happened in the Universe of the four gods!"

"Well that's not entirely accurate," Yui said softly. "I mean, as far as we know the book itself is okay. What we do know is that something must have happened to Chichiri."

Keiske looked momentarily taken aback. Tetsuya gave him a look not easily interpreted through the sunglasses. However it must have been received because the brown haired man immediately silenced.

Taka looked worriedly to Miaka. "But for us to actually feel it… does that mean the book is calling us? We had no idea when Mitsukake or his Highness were dying…"

His words had not been the right thing to say. Miaka's eyes widened and she clamped a hand to her face. "Dying?!"

Tetsuya sighed. "You've said exactly what I was thinking Taka. Since the worlds between the book and our world have different time limits it's very possible that what you both felt was Chichiri's passing."

Everyone looked horrified by his prediction.

"But that can't be true!" Miaka whispered. "Chichiri… he wasn't that old to have passed away…"

The group of adults looked at each other, each thinking the same thing. If there was one thing that the book had taught them it was that death didn't always claim older victims. Hikari looked up at his mother confusedly. He reached for her hand and she jumped. She'd forgotten entirely that he was even there.

"What can we do? The book disappeared after Mayo-"

Hilariously enough at that moment Mayo burst through the door, nearly running straight into the couple in the doorway.

"Mayo-san!" they gasped.

"Mayo, what are you doing here?" Kesike asked. Then he realized. "You were a priestess… you felt it too?"

To their surprise she looked confused. "What? Oh nevermind that! You know how I'm interning at the hospital?" Without waiting for reply she gasped, "That weird blue haired guy is there!"

"CHICHIRI?!" They all yelled simultaneously. And without waiting they all jumped up and ran out the door, leaving Hikari and Mayo to stare at each other.

"Come on Hikari," she said holding out her arms for the little boy to jump into. "We better follow them… they don't know which room to go to or anything."

* * *

Chichiri woke up quite suddenly.

For a moment he laid there without moving at all, simply allowing his eye to roam and examine his surroundings.

The room was white and extremely clean. He was laying in some sort of strange bed and wearing clothes that were not his own.

Slowly he attempted to sit up and immediately pushed back into the pillows.

"Whoa there buddy… I wouldn't try to do anything outrageous just yet." An amused voice… a familiar voice…

He stared at the chestnut hair, the handsome smile and the familiar dark eyes. A lump filled his throat.

"H-Hikou…?"

The man smiled. "Absolutely Jun-kun. Boy… if you didn't already have a huge lump on the head I'd give you a wallop. We've all been going crazy trying to figure out where you are and then you appear in emergency. My own brother!"

Chichiri stared at him incomprehensively. "B-brother?"

The mischievous look melted a bit. He reached up to the bandage around Chichiri's head. "Are you okay? We gave you some pain meds earlier. That's the cool thing about being related to your doctor, you get the best stuff in the bunch."

For a moment all chichiri could do was stare. Then he realized that maybe he should play along with this dream (it must be a dream) and said very quietly. "No, I… I'm okay, ya know. Just… fuzzy."

A look of relief passed over his best friend's features. "Thank goodness for that. Can I get you anything else. Water?"

Chichiri shook his head helplessly. He felt like he should stay quiet, like if he opened his mouth he would start talking about how the last time they had seen each other he had killed him for the second time… and somehow he knew that Hikou would be confused by that. Was this his reborn self? What was going on?

He settled on a simpler question.

"H-how… did I get here? What happened?"

Hikou frowned. He grabbed a nearby chair and sat down.

"Well… from what I heard you walked into traffic and got hit by a car. Then an ambulance came to take you to the hospital. You've got some pretty bad bruises, a broken arm… which by the way the x-ray shows that you broke it before, when did that happen? Anyway, you also have some bruised ribs and a bad concussion and cut on your head… that's about it. You're gonna be fine." Hikou frowned even more. "Now how about answering some of my questions? Where have you been the last two weeks? What's with the blue hair? And what were you wearing?"

Chichiri swallowed. Some of what Hikou had said reminded him of how he had come to this world. He remembered he had seen Keiske right before that… thing… had hit him. Was this real? He was still in Miaka's world… and Hikou was here too? Even more unbelievable he thought that he, Chichiri, was his brother and that he lived here!

"Well?" Hikou asked impatiently.

"Oh…" Chichiri frowned, trying to come up with any sort of reasonable excuse or clause. "I um… was looking for someone. And… I though I'd try a new look?"

Hikou looked slightly angry now and Chichiri winced. Luckily his miscomfort was mistaken for pain and Hikou settled again.

"Sorry… I shouldn't be asking you this when you're sick." He said grugingly. "Sorry about your hair, we had to cut it in order to bandage your head properly. Though I'm sure if you can grow it that long in two weeks you won't mind."

Now that he mentioned it, Chichiri couldn't see any blue bangs bobbing in front of him. "It's okay." He said faintly.

Hikou smiled again. "Mmm. Okay I'll stop bothering you. You should be out of here pretty soon anyway. Get some rest. Mom and Dad said they'd stop by later on tonight… and it was all we could do to keep Katy at school. Anyway I better go." He stood. As he turned to leave he looked awkwardly back at him.

"Jun… it's good to see you man. Don't run away again, okay?"

Chichiri looked back at him. He smiled, a true smile even if it was a bit confused and said, "It's good to see you too Hikou."

The door closed and Chichiri swallowed again, feeling as though his heart were beating twice as fast.

_Hikou… Katy… my parents? What on earth is going on?_

* * *

_Ba dum BA DUUUMMMM_

_Review_


	4. is going on?

Chapter 4

Guess what? It turns out I'm not dead.

Oh btw, just a simple reminder:

Chichiri's family background:

**Parents**= government officials

Had **1 little sister **(why is it that every character had a little sister? XD)

Best friend whom he killed: **Hikou**

Fiancé= **Koran**

Real name, before he was a warrior = **Houjun**

* * *

He was getting used to being in this place. When he woke up he immediately remembered that he was in Miaka's world… in a 'hospital'- a place where doctors healed people.

He must have drifted off at some point during his calamity. He groggily noticed that the little knick-knacs around his bedside had been moved. The vase of flowers had been placed beside the window and two chairs were next to the bed, as though someone had been sitting by him. In the air there was the faint smell of women's perfume… rosewater perfume, if he wasn't mistaken.

Absently, he rubbed his eyes with his good hand.

His _eyes_?

Gasping, Chichiri threw back his covers and jumped to his feet. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain in his ribs and stumbled over to the tall floor length mirror. When he saw his reflection he gasped.

Two eyes. He had _two eyes_. Amazingly, like a miracle, it was his own right-eye, widening in shock, even as it stared at it's own reflection. He felt himself start to sweat.

'_What… how is that even possible?_' he thought, shaking so hard that he had to reach out a hand to the wall for support. '_I thought… when I was transported here I definitely only had one eye… I distinctly remember it…_'

"Big broooother!"

Before he could so much as blink, a little girl ran into the room. Comically, she looked stunned at the empty bed before she glanced over and saw the young man swaying in front of the mirror.

"Hey… aren't you supposed to be in bed?" she said accusingly. Big adorable familiar eyes, the same shade as his own peered up at him while one finger pulled on her braids. "Mama and Papa'll be mad if they come up here and you aren't resting."

There was only one person in the world she could be.

"K-K-Katy?" he said softly, unable to stop his mouth from dropping open at the sight of his sister. The eight year old's appearance had not altered at all- not one bit from the day that she had died; swept away by the flooding current of the Shouryuu river.

"Of course," she looked up at him. His hand was still on his face, where had a gingerly reached up and touched the skin around his eye. She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, Hikou took off the bandage. He said it wasn't really necessary to begin with but that the cut on your head was so close to your eye that the man working on you felt it necessary."

"Oh." Chichiri swallowed. His gaze returned back to the mirror. "I see."

Katy tipped her head, looking at her brother. Finally she said, rather impatiently, "WELL? Aren't you going to come over here and see what I got you from the gift shop?"

He jumped. "Oh… of-of course!" he returned to the bed and carefully lowered himself onto it, keeping a hand on his ribs. Katy bounced up beside him pulling out a small paper bag and reaching into it.

"I got you this!" with a flourish, she held up a stuffed toy. "Ta daaa! Doesn't he look just like Mr. Whiskers?"

Not knowing what else to do, he decided to play along. "Oh yes. He looks exactly like him. He's… erm… even the right colors…"

Katy looked up at him in confusion. "Jun, what do you mean? Mr. Whiskers isn't black. He's white."

Chichiri faltered. "Oh… I was… just kidding, ya know?" he coughed a little. "Will you see Mr. Whiskers when you get home?"

The little girl looked at him again with such caution he knew he'd made another fatal error. "No," she said quietly.

In silence the man and the little girl stared at each other. Chichiri sweat dropped.

"I… I'm sorry Katy. You'll have to excuse me, I got a pretty big headache today, ya know? The doctor says I have a concussion."

"Yeah, he told us that too," she said, thought she didn't look convinced.

"Us?"

"Mama and Papa and I."

Mama and Papa… could it possibly be… _his parents_? His heart gave a lurch.

"He came in with us while you were sleeping." Katy said, fiddling with the stuffed hamster while she talked.

"Hikou came back?"

Katy looked up again, looking annoyed.

"No, the _doctor_ came back."

"I thought Hikou was the doctor," said Chichiri, more confused than ever.

Katy shook her head. "They never let doctors work on their own families. It's against hospital policy."

"Hospital policy…?"

At that moment, the door opened again.

"Jun… you're awake," Hikou stepped into the room, tucking a strange looking device into his coat pocket. "And Katy… are Mom and Dad here too?"

"They're downstairs at the food court," the little girl replied. "I'll go get them,"

She jumped off the bed and skipped out the room, but not before sending another suspicious look at him. Hikou noticed and raised an eyebrow as he shook his head.

"That Katy," he sighed with a chuckle. "Always up to something."

Chichiri swallowed and offered a weak smile, once again tongue tied by the image of his best friend. Hikou grabbed the clipboard attached to the end of the bed, flipping through it carefully.

"You're allowed to check out tonight. Mom and Dad came to visit, but they'll stay until the doctor comes in at eight and then take you home with them. Still, that's about two hours away," he let the papers fall back into place again before returning the chart to the end of the bed. "I know I promised not to bother you about where you've been… at least not until you're out of here… but in the meantime, is there anything I can do for you?"

Was there anything _he_ could do for _him_? Chichiri shrugged a little, shaking his head. Then, abruptly, he changed his mind.

_Suzaku. I've got to find some answers…._

"I'd… I'd like to pray actually. Is there a temple…?" he paused in realization. "No… I'm not clean enough to go in… is there a place I could bathe first?"

Hikou looked amused. "My little religious brother. Well there's no temple in the hospital here, but I can get you a bath and you can pray at home. Hang on a sec and I'll call the nurse. Until you're pronounced fit it's best to have someone stand outside while you shower… it'd be pretty bad if you fainted or banged your head again.

"Mmm… okay…" Chichiri agreed shakily, having no idea whatsoever what Hikou was taking about.

And with that his "brother" patted his shoulder and stood up to leave.

* * *

If anyone had stopped to listen to Mayo, they'd have considered 'Hospital policy' a little more carefully. Not only did they arrive at the hospital without knowing the patient's room number- but the only name they had was Chichiri, and a vague description that made the nurse at the registration desk stare at them as though they were stupid.

Which… might be true.

"You say you are looking for a man by the name of 'Chichiri,' roughly 27 years old… though you aren't sure… with one eye, blue hair, dressed as a monk from the early Chinese century… oh yes, and he might possibly be wearing _a fox mask_?

"If he is wearing it then you won't be able to see his eye at all," Miaka said earnestly, while her husband tried to pull her back from the desk, realizing they had taken the wrong approach.

"Are any of you even related to the patient?" The nurse asked pointedly. "Do you even know what sort of injury or illness he is suffering from?"

"No, that's what we want you to tell us-"

"Miaka!" Taka pulled her away from the desk. He smiled at the director. "We're waiting for a friend of ours who works here… she said that our friend was here earlier. You're quite right, we're lacking information. If it's okay, we'll just wait for them in the cafeteria."

The nurse nodded, already looking bored with the situation. Yui and Tetsuya followed behind the couple as Taka began walking her down the hall.

"Hey," Miaka cried indignantly. "Taka, let me go!"

"I'm sorry Miaka, but we need to think a bit more. We shouldn't have ran off without Mayo like that… the nurse is right, we don't even know if Chichiri is a patient here, or if he just got transported here. For that matter, we don't know if he's in our world at all." They had reached the cafeteria and Taka sank into one of the sets of chairs with a sigh. Tetsuya held out a chair for Yui while Miaka, too wired from the experience, paced back and forth.

"But we felt him Taka! And what Keiske said before… about Chichiri maybe passing on… it just can't be true! I don't think it's any coincidence at all that Mayo found him and ran home to tell us… and besides, she's met him before- she wouldn't mistake him for someone else."

"I know all that," Taka said softly, resting his chin on his palm. "All I'm saying is that for right now all we can do is wait for Mayo."

Miaka froze in midstep, realizing he was right. With a sigh, she dropped onto Taka's lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and they touched foreheads.

"He can't be gone," Miaka whispered. "He just can't be."

* * *

The water flowed out of some strange metal object on the wall. If it had been earlier in the day, he may have looked for where the water was really coming from but his mind was tired- tired of trying to figuring things out, tired of questions. The hot spray felt good and warm and for the first five minutes he was content to just stand and let it wash over his body.

Then he glanced at his chest.

The water wasn't clear, it was leaving blue streaks down his torso. Confused, he opened the curtain to the bathroom and reached out to grab the hand mirror on the sink.

His hair was dripping blue. No- the tips of his hair were dripping blue, the rest of his hair was brown- as though the blue had merely been hair coloring.

_'Where have you been for the past two weeks? And what's with the blue hair?"_

Hikou had asked him if he had dyed his hair. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time… but now, with none of his normal hair color in sight, he clutched the hand mirror so tightly he thought it might break.

"Are you all right in there?" A nurse called from the other side of the bathroom door. He nearly choked on his reply.

"-fine."

No. No that was a lie.

He was not fine.

_ 'Please… please Suzaku… somebody please give me some answers!' _


	5. I'm lost

Although there doesn't seem to be too much interest review-wise, I have a few people who pressed 'favorite' and are now following. Thanks for showing interest in a dying community! The story is all planned out, all I have to do is sit down and write it. Thank you for your patience these long three years.

And yes, I borrowed the space alien idea from the movie Family man.

* * *

His parents turned out to be a couple in their late fifties, his father with glasses and worry lines and his mother with large watery eyes. They didn't look much like they had when he had known them, but the way his mother gently reached over and touched the side of his head made him shiver with recognition. There had been many words spoken, most of which he barely understood, but the long story short was that they had decided to take him to their home to recover for a week, instead of to the apartment he shared with Hikou.

He didn't disagree. He couldn't have spoken his mind if his life depended on it. They had taken him downstairs by wheelchair and magic teleportation (which they called 'elevator') and then by magical rolly thingie (the same of which had caused on his trouble in the first place) to their home. It was dark when they'd arrived, and by that point he had been so exhausted with everything, so overwhelmed that when they'd given him his medication and shown him a bed, he'd fallen asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

Now it was morning… or at least light out. There was a device by the bed that said 7:00 in glowing neon numbers, not that he knew what that meant. He laid in bed, staring at it as it made it's strange progression from :01 to :05, wondering what the numbers signified. Time of some sort, obviously, but then again, time seemed to pass differently here in Miaka's world.

Miaka… he'd been so sure he'd seen Keiske out there… although he'd never actually met her brother in person, the voice had sounded familiar, the same that had come from the sky at Hotohori-sama's funeral. Then again, he could be mistaken.

'_Maybe I've died… maybe the vision of Suzaku killed me and I was reborn here… and got hit my a metal rolling thing and lost my memories and regained my former memories-_' he was starting to getting a headache.

"Daaaa…." He sat up slowly. He peered around the room.

It was like nothing he had ever seen. Pictures, like the one Miaka had taken with her camera, adorned the room. But the subjects of the pictures were not the Suzaku seven, but rather what what the current Li Family. Hikou and himself, at various ages, but so obviously them that it made a lump form in his throat- an older picture of his parents, then another of just the four of them- his parents, Hikou and himself. Then, a smaller picture of a baby he could only assume was Katy and several pictures of her with Hikou, his mother, his father and…

Well himself. Two eyes, brown hair… not as short as his current haircut, but still, obviously and completely him. Slowly he inched his way off the bed, walking the circumference of the room, ignoring the strange furniture but staring in amazement at his own face.

He looked… happy. Inexplicably so.

'_But… if these pictures are me… why don't I remember…_'

At that moment, the room door opened.

In a de ja vu fashion, Katy entered without knocking, looked at the empty bed, then looked across the room. Seeing the older man, she placed her hands on her hips.

"What are you doing?"

Chichiri cleared his throat. "Sorry, I just woke up, no da. I was just looking at some of the pictures, no da."

The girl's eyes narrowed. Chichiri realized he had absently fell back into his former speech pattern and restrained himself from slapping his forehead in exasperation. The girl walked over and looked at the picture he'd been oogling.

"That's your picture from the competition," she said finally.

"Competition?"

"Yeah. Swimming."

"Swimming…?" well… it kind of made sense. He could swim rather well, as could all the children from his village. It had been a matter of necessity in a place where the river could rise at any time.

"Yeah," Katy looked at him again. Ignoring her piercing gaze, he made a small show out of looking at the other photographs, hanging in frames around the room. When she spoke again her accusing voice made him freeze.

"You're not my brother."

He looked down at her, at her arms crossed firmly over her chest and her glare fit to melt ice.

"Wha-what do you mean, no- I mean… why would you say that?" he said weakly.

"You don't know anything. You didn't know about Mr. Whiskers, you didn't know that Hikou _isn't_ a doctor, just an intern, and you didn't correct me when I told you you won a swimming competition."

"You mean it wasn't for swimming?" he asked dumbly.

"No. It was a public speaking competition."

"Oh," he felt stupid. With a certain sense of trepidation, he stared down at the little girl.

"You know Katy…" he said finally. "I hit my head pretty hard back there-"

"Are you a space alien?" she interrupted.

"and…" Pause. "Am I a _what_?"

"Space alien. Or maybe someone stole you and experimented on you in a laboratory… I read that they do that to lab rats sometimes," said the little girl earnestly. Chichiri sweatdropped.

"No… No Katy, I'm none of those things, believe me…" he paused, unsure of how he could explain.

'_Well of course, you can't explain,' his brain argued. 'for one thing, you don't really know what's going on either._'

'_Still I've got to say something about this!_' Chichiri sighed. He raised his good arm and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Katy, I am your brother," he said finally. "It's just… I'm…not your brother from this time period." Oh, very well explained.

Katy however, looked up at him, her eyes guarded and an expression on her face a little like Mitsukake's. Serious and stern, like, '_sure Tasuki, you go ahead and break an arm in a barfight. Maybe some other doctor will tend to you then_.'

Suzaku, how he missed them.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The truth. The truth, or as close to it as he could get.

"I'm… I'm your brother from the past… from before." Chichiri sighed. He pulled out the chair that was at the desk and sat down carefully, one hand over his ribs. "You and Mom and Dad… we all lived in another place, another time. I was grown up and on my own… suddenly I was here and when I was trying to figure out what was going on, I got hit by… by…' Oh, what were they called? "I got hurt." Better.

Katy considered him carefully. "What do you mean, a different time?"

Good grief, she was smart. He'd forgotten just hot bright she used to be. '_She and Chiriko would make a good couple, no da._'

"I don't know," he replied hesitantly. "but I think it was in the past." That was Miaka had implied anyway. She'd called their land 'ancient China' more than once, though it seemed nothing but modern to Chichiri.

What he'd seen as of late was not modern, just… strange.

"So did you guys switch or something?" she asked, seeming not at all perturbed by the fact.

Switch… was that even possible? What if Houjun, the Houjun from this era was running around in the book somewhere, trying desperately to get home?

"I… don't think that's possible," he said hesitantly. "I mean… I'm fairly sure that we are one soul and one body… but our memories are broken up. But… I guess that's possible too. After all, I don't actually remember dying in my time."

Katy nodded as though this all made sense. Then she leaned in close, a mere two inches from his face and peered with intensity. He blinked at her, not certain if he should move.

"You look just like him," she said finally. "If they are space aliens, they did a really good job,"

He sweatdropped again, realizing that the whole 'reincarnation' talk had absolutely no affect on the girl whatsoever. Katy backed away and crossed her arms again. "And you seem nice and all… still…" she turned to him. "When… when is _my_ brother coming back?"

The way she asked, the small catch of uncertainty and sadness made his heart clench. "I don't know," he admitted softly. "But I'd certainly like to find out, no da."

Katy looked scared for a brief moment. Then her bravo returned.

"Well… okay. In the meantime, I'll be your sensei!" she smiled. "You probably don't know much about our planet, having never been here, so I'll teach you what you need to know so you won't blow your cover!" she gave a little twirl as she went over to the closet. "And in return, you've got to find my brother, okay?"

Chichiri blinked a little, considering the proposition carefully. The little girl was right- he hadn't a clue on how he could fit in here- he didn't know half the information he should and there was no way he could have a normal conversation, not knowing anything about his past (or was it the future?). Biting his lip, he gave a small nod to the girl, wondering just how hard it would be to keep his end of the bargain.

She opened the closet and pulled out some strange looking clothing, "And before you get dressed there's something you should probably know,' she looked up, making sure her pupil was listening intently before saying, "The metal rolling things? They're called _cars_."


End file.
